6_inch_26_cwt_howitzer

BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer

BL 6-inch 26 cwt howitzer

Medium howitzer used during World War I and World War II

The Ordnance BL 6 inch 26cwt howitzer was a British howitzer used during World War I and World War II. The qualifier "26cwt" refers to the weight of the barrel and breech together which weighed 26 long hundredweight (1.3 t).

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History

World War I

Battery firing, World War I
Use of girdles around wheels, Somme September 1916
Near Boesinghe, Battle of Langemarck, August 1917

It was developed to replace the obsolescent 6 inch 25 cwt and 6 inch 30 cwt howitzers which were outclassed by German artillery such as the 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze 13. Design began in January 1915, the first proof-firing occurred on 30 July 1915 and it entered service in late 1915.[1] Its combination of firepower, range and mobility (for its day) made it one of the British Empire's most important weapons in World War I.

It was originally towed by horses but from 1916 onwards was commonly towed by the FWD 4 wheel drive 3 ton lorry as heavy field artillery. The wooden spoked wheels could be fitted with "girdles" for work in mud or sand to prevent them sinking. Towards the end of the war solid rubber tyres were fitted over the iron tyres on the wheel rims, giving the rims a heavier appearance. It fired 22.4 million rounds on the Western Front.[3]

World War II

British battery in action at Tobruk, 23 January 1941

During the interwar period the carriage had its wooden spoked wheels replaced with modern steel wheels and pneumatic tyres. During World War II, its use was restricted after 1942 when the replacement BL 5.5 inch Medium Gun came into use but it was reintroduced in Burma due to a number of premature detonations in 5.5-inch (140 mm) guns. It was declared obsolete with the end of the war in 1945.

Captured examples received the designation FH-412(e) in German use.

Surviving examples

Restored gun, the Memorial to 71st (Transvaal) Siege Battery at Johannesburg Zoo.

These guns are being restored by the Gunner's Association of South Africa

World War I ammunition

Projectiles used in World War I weighed 100 pounds (45.4 kg). A lighter 86 pounds (39.0 kg) long-range projectile was introduced in November 1918, too late to see service in the war [3]

See also

Weapons of comparable role, performance and era

Notes and references

  1. [1]
    Hogg & Thurston 1972, Page 126-127
  2. [2]
    Clarke page 37 quotes 9,500 and 11,400 yd (10,400 m); General Farndale page 129-130 quotes a range of 9,800 yd (9,000 m) for the WWI 2 c.r.h. shell, with a range of 12,500 yd (11,400 m) for the later 5/10 c.r.h. shell. The longer ranges were obtained with the 86 lb (39 kg) Mk 2D 5/10 c.r.h. shell with an augmenting ("Super") charge.
  3. [3]
    Clarke 2005, page 37

Bibliography

  • Dale Clarke, British Artillery 1914-1919. Heavy Artillery. Osprey Publishing, Oxford UK, 2005 ISBN 978-1-84176-788-8
  • General Sir Martin Farndale, History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery. Western Front 1914-18. London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1986. ISBN 978-1-870114-00-4
  • I.V. Hogg & L.F. Thurston, British Artillery Weapons & Ammunition 1914-1918. London: Ian Allan, 1972. ISBN 978-0-7110-0381-1
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